A's hand Rockies eighth straight loss

June 14, 2012|Reuters

A's hand Rockies eighth straight loss

DENVER -- Oakland A's rookie Jarrod Parker, unfazed by the cascade of offense in the first two games of the series, limited the Colorado Rockies to three singles over seven scoreless innings Thursday as the A's won 8-2 to sweep their three-game set.

The defeat was the eighth straight for the Rockies, extending their season-worst losing streak, and it left them 0-9 this season in interleague play, all the losses coming at Coors Field. At 24-38, the Rockies are a season-worst 14 games below .500.

"Nobody likes losing," Rockies right fielder Michael Cuddyer said. "Nobody likes that. Nobody likes going out there and not succeeding. Everybody's frustrated. Everybody's angry, but that doesn't mean you quit. You got to keep going out there and playing."

The series sweep was the first for the A's since Sept. 2-4, 2011, and their first sweep on the road since they won four games at Seattle from Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010.

In the first two games of the series, won 8-5 and 10-8 by the A's, the teams combined for 44 hits, including 12 home runs, in a throwback to the pre-humidor days at Coors Field from 1995-2001. Parker, 23, took the mound and simply went about his business in his 11th career start, 10th this season.

"He's got some grit and determination to him," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "It's difficult to sit here for a couple days and watch balls fly all around this park like it's a pinball machine and then go out there and throw seven innings with three hits and no runs."

The A's hit two late homers Thursday. Josh Reddick hit his 16th, a shot into the second deck in right field with two outs in the eighth off Matt Reynolds. Brandon Moss, whom the A's brought up June 6 from Triple-A Sacramento, led off the ninth with a homer against Josh Roenicke. It was Moss' fifth homer in eight games with Oakland and his fourth in the series.

"It's been a welcome addition to the lineup to have someone past the middle of the order, too, who can knock in some runs," Melvin said. "We feel like we have some depth to our lineup."

After Moss' homer, the A's added two more runs off Roenicke, who had allowed three runs (two earned) in his previous 21 outings dating back to April 28.

Parker worked seven highly efficient innings, throwing 89 pitches, including 60 strikes. He got 10 outs on balls hit on the ground, struck out six -- all swinging -- and issued only one walk.

"The gap (in speed) that his changeup creates makes you behind his fastball," Melvin said. "So he can pitch up and down as well as he can pitch in and out."

After watching the first two games of the series, Parker said he had a plan with his fastball that worked.

"I wanted to keep the ball down and really use the two-seamer today," Parker said. "I was even able to get it glove side and run it back a little bit (against left-handed hitters). But I think it was more two-seamers today than it has (been) all year. A good place to do it here -- keep the ball out of the air."

The Rockies averted their fourth shutout when Marco Scutaro homered with one out in the ninth off former Rockies closer Brian Fuentes, who then gave up a second run.

Parker, who lowered his ERA to 2.82, gave up a single to Dexter Fowler to open the first, but Fowler was caught stealing. Parker retired six straight batters before Chris Nelson singled with one out in the third, and the right-hander retired eight straight batters before Nelson opened the sixth with a single. With one out, Fowler walked, giving the Rockies two baserunners in the same inning for the first time. Scutaro moved the runners up with a grounder to second, but Parker struck out Carlos Gonzalez on three pitches.

Colorado's Alex White pitched four innings, the shortest of his eight starts this year. Rockies starters have pitched less than six innings in seven of the past eight games, the exception being White's six-inning outing June 8 against the Angels. Two of the four runs White allowed were unearned, lowering the starters' ERA slightly to 6.29.

"Hope something changes," White said. "We've got to do something different, don't know what it is. We've got to find a way to win a game here and there, get on a streak because this is tough to watch, tough to be a part of and we're all sick of it."

Sloppy play by the Rockies helped the A's score two runs in both the second and third. A double by Moss and Kurt Suzuki's single put runners on first and third with one out in the second. Third baseman Jordan Pacheco made a low throw on a grounder hit by Adam Rosales, and Tyler Colvin, making his second start at first base, not only was unable to dig the ball out but had it deflect past him, allowing both runners to score.